Average Weekly Earnings for Production and Nonsupervisory Personnel: up $.06 from $21.63 to $21.68, up +2.6% YoY. (tied for post-recession high) (Note: you may be reading different information about wages elsewhere. They are citing average wages for all private workers. I use wages for nonsupervisory personnel, to come closer to the situation for ordinary workers.)

July was revised down by -23,000, and August was revised up by +16,000, for a net change of -7,000.

The more leading numbers in the report tell us about where the economy is likely to be a few months from now. These were mixed.

the average manufacturing workweek rose 0.1 from 40.7 to 40.8 hours. This is one of the 10 components of the LEI, and is a positive.

temporary jobs - a leading indicator for jobs overall - increased by 23,200 (this made a peak in December, and recently has been stabilizing).

the number of people unemployed for 5 weeks or less - a better leading indicator than initial jobless claims - increased by 284,000 from 2,290,000 to 2.574,000. The post-recession low was set 1 year ago at 2,095,000.

Other important coincident indicators help us paint a more complete picture of the present:

Overtime was unchanged at 3.3 hours.

Professional and business employment (generally higher- paying jobs) increased by 67,000 and are up +582,000 YoY.

the index of aggregate hours worked in the economy rose by 0.4 from 105.4 to 105.8

the index of aggregate payrolls rose 0.9 from 129.6 to 130.5.

Other news included:

the alternate jobs number contained in the more volatile household survey increased by 354,000 jobs. This represents an increase of 3,036,000 jobs YoY vs. 2,447,000 in the establishment survey.

Government jobs fell by -11,000.

the overall employment to population ratio for all ages 16 and above rose from 59.7% to 59.8% m/m and is up +0.5% YoY.

The labor force participation rate rose from 62.8% to 62.9% and is up +0.5% YoY (remember, this includes droves of retiring Bsoomers).

SUMMARY

This was a mixed report, continuing to show late cycle deceleration. The biggest negative was the uptick in the unemployment rate to 5.0%. This metric has gone basically sideways since last December, and I suspect we may already have seen the low for this series for this expansion in May at 4.7%. The broader measures of underutilization -- involuntary part-time employment and those not in the labor force who want a job now -- have also made no further progress this year.The uptick in short term unemployment is also a negative, contradicting the good initial jobless claims reports. Revisions have also been running generally negative all year long. Positive news included the headline number, as well as the increases in the employment to population ratio, the labor force participation rate, and aggregate hours and payrolls. Temporary jobs have come back from lows earlier this year, although not to new highs. Average hourly earnings are also showing YoY strength.This report does not show recession now or imminently. But it does contain signs of an economic expansion that may be nearing peak.

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